Top 4 The Sun Also Rises quotes
Robert Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton. Do not think I am very much impressed by that as a boxing title, but it meant a lot to Cohn. He cared nothing for boxing, in fact, he disliked it, but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton.”--- Words of the narrator (Jake Barnes), the opening lines of Chapter 1.
Here we are introduced to one of the major characters in the story, and we learn much about him, as well as Jake. We learn of Robert’s history and his insecurity. We may also infer that Jake sees Robert as somewhat artificial and inferior, which may eventually seem ironic, as, over the course of the book, we see that all characters display shallow personalities, and all suffer from insecurities of their own.
"You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”--- Jake, speaking to Robert in Chapter 2.
The irony of these words makes this quote notable. Here, Jake offers sound advice to Robert, while failing to see that all of the characters in the book “move from one place to another” in a constant effort to escape themselves… including Jake. Whether with travel from country to country, or over the course of an evening, which almost always includes moving from bar to bar, restaurant to restaurant, and club to club, all are perpetually unsatisfied and moving about, albeit fruitlessly.
“Couldn’t we live together, Brett? Couldn’t we just live together?”--- Jake, speaking to Brett in Chapter 7.
Here, Jake suggests that since the two love each other, perhaps they could just find a way to make it work. However, Brett responds that she would certainly be unfaithful to him, as she has an insatiable desire for sex with men, something that Jake cannot satisfy. She knows that this would leave Jake miserable.
“Yes,” I said. “Isn’t it pretty to think so?”--- Narrator Jake, to Brett, as the book’s closing words in Chapter 19.
Jake’s response to Brett’s statement that they could have been so good together indicates his resolve that their love will forever remain little more than a passing fantasy. Jake has realized that they will never be lovers and that all hope of finding a way to make their relationship work is gone. While Brett is now alone, after a series of sexual dalliances that has left a long trail of broken hearts behind her, Jake knows that even if the two of them had tried to foster a deeper relationship, it, too, would certainly have ended in tragedy. Jake is now cynical and fatalistic in his feelings over the chance of ever being with Brett.
